Take A Break – Weekend Open Thread

This has been a pretty intense week. Lots has happened, and some things that SHOULD have happened, like real testimony from our Secretary of State, did not. Oh, and get this – feminists across the land are OUTRAGED at the treatment Clinton got at the hands of those evil, mean, sexist Senators, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson. Sen. Barbara Boxer sent out a big action letter about this very “treatment” at the hands of these men, asking people to sign it as a show to Secretary Clinton that they “have her back.”

Wow. Really? Because, as you know, I thought she didn’t really answer much of anything. And I thought her outburst was convenient insofar as it allowed her to not answer the question Senator Johnson, that big meanie, asked her. Never mind that his QUESTION was appropriate. Whatever.

I have to say this about these reactions: if this had been a Republican woman testifying, and Republican men treated her like the Democrats did Hillary, these same women would claim they were patronizing and condescending, not asking the hard questions, and not treating her like they would anyone else testifying before Congress. It is ridiculous. She is the SECRETARY OF STATE. If she cannot withstand some hard questions, she has NO business being in that business.

It is SUCH a double standard, it makes me irritated. Women cannot claim we should be treated as equals, should be in positions of power equal to men, and then get upset if anyone dare treat us as anything other than a delicate little flower who withers under scrutiny. It is ABSURD, especially coming from so many women who were insistent that Hillary COULD stand the heat in the kitchen, that she was the one to take the 3:00 am call, and all of that. WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO FEMINISTS?!?! I thought it was PRECISELY this kind of thing for which we were fighting – to be treated as EQUALS. Now women have to have Daddy Government take care of us, and we can’t POSSIBLY have anyone, especially some MAN, ask us a hard question without everyone throwing a hissy fit. Why, how DARE they ask a real question!!

Ugh.

Ahem. Sorry for the outburst. This is supposed to be taking a break. Shake it out, shake it out…Oh, wait – I know what would be PERFECT for that. This rendition of a Florence and the Machine song by Katherine McPhee in “Smash”:

Whew, I feel better now.

I have been dying to share this unbelievably incredible video with you. I had seen them mention it on tee-vee, and my friend, Edee, made sure I saw it. It is an amazing story. See for yourselves:

Isn’t that just mind boggling? Moves me to tears, it does. That this dolphin knew these divers could help says a great deal. An update to this video, though, is that the diver WAS ABLE to remove the hook from the dolphin according to THIS INTERVIEW with Keller Laros (the diver). Whew, thank HEAVENS! (I should say that, I had considered Marine Biology as a career, specifically working with Cetaceans, so this speaks to my heart in a big way.)

33 Responses to “Take A Break – Weekend Open Thread”

Here are my animal videos for the day! This first one is about Lizzie joining our family. The first few pics are when I picked her up and had her in the car. She wouldn’t even lift her head 😦 Turned out she was underweight (5 pounds – now she’s a tubby 8!), she had roundworms, and she was crawling with fleas. When you see them on the floor together and Caesar’s in his bandana is their very first meeting!

This one, well…. just watch all the way to the end and past the “credits.”

And then there’s this one. Y’all just can’t believe what life is like with 2 Yorkies in the house!

And a bonus one: I took Caesar (twice) to run a lure course. All the big dog owners laughed – out loud, I should add. They thought he was too “frou frou” and he wouldn’t do it. Excuse me? Know your breed! Terrier comes from the Latin “Terra,” meaning “earth.” These dogs were bred specifically for this. We waited patiently while the herders got bored when the fake squirrel wouldn’t go where it was supposed to and the scent hounds couldn’t figure out what to do as soon as it zipped away from their noses. People came running over to cheer him on! That was when he was 7 months. I picked him up and walked out so proud right past those meanies who were making fun of him. It was “Dogtober Fest” and he’s in his little Count Barkula costume, so that’s why you see a purple cape flying. The other one he did was right after he’d been to the groomer, and there was a professional animal photog there. Once again, “Are you sure he’ll do it?” was the question du jour. They let him go around way more than we paid for, but on the 2nd loop he figured out that if he cut the corner he could get ahead of it and wait. I’m not a proud mama or anything… lol

Okay, as I continue to reflect on this whole thing with Barbara Boxer and the umbrage women are taking at this behavior, I can’t HELP but be struck with the sheer double standard of it all. Not for nothing, but Boxer chose OBAMA to support in 2008, not Clinton. And the DNC/Dems were HORRIBLE to Hillary during the 2008 Campaign, just HORRIBLE. They treated her, and her SUPPORTERS, like complete and utter crap. Hillary routinely said she just let stuff roll off her back and didn’t take it personally.

Now the same people who acted like she was complete slime for messing with Obama’s Historic run, as if her’s WASN’T, are now acting like she can’t handle a few tough questions. REALLY?? Because she has been having to deal with tough stuff for some time now. If they think she couldn’t handle those few questions, she sure as hell cannot handle being POTUS. No way.

The Senators did not ask her anything or say anything they wouldn’t have said to someone else in her position. She got off lightly since most people refused to really ask her ANYTHING. To act like she needs us to “have her back,” especially after the DNC did crap like take VOTES from her, is just ludicrous.

I’m with you all the way on this RRRA. What in the hell is wrong with holding a Secretary of State to account for what happens? Women sure had no problem with attacking Condi Rice or Sarah Palin or a host of conservative women. Attacking them AND their families viciously and repeatedly.

If Clinton isn’t big enough and strong enough to answer questions at a hearing then she isn’t big enough and strong enough to hold that position. Have her back? What complete and utter nonsense. But then consider the source.

EXACTLY, Kenosha – Albright and Condi Rice had tough questions lobbed at them and no one rushed to their defense like they were some poor, put-upon women that the big bullies were hating on. Heck no. And again, one of the things we CONSTANTLY cited abt Hillary was her TOUGHNESS!! Sheesh!!!

Helenk, I am afraid you are right – and that is precisely what she has done.

Oh, yeah – all the same suspects who demonized her in 2007-08 for infringing on Obama’s HISTORIC run, as if her’s WASN’T, and as if SHE didn’t win all the big states, and would have won without his massive caucus fraud, particularly in Texas. Now, of course, that they got him re-elected, they can start glowing abt Hillary. And the “feminists” who supported Obama can now freely support Clinton.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the one who has lost my mind or am living in an alternate universe. I was very active in the feminist movement to pass the ERA. I so clearly remember arguing that we wanted EQUAL treatment, not SPECIAL treatment. If you read some of the early groundbreaking cases on sex dicrimination, it was all about EQUAL treatment, EQUAL opportunity. Now, so-called feminists are constantly asking for special treatment. It’s all too much to take in.

(Ok so I didn’t take my own advice. I read a headline on FOX News that the Social Security Disability Fund will run out of funds under Obama, i.e. within the next 4 years. No way to know if that’s true, of course, but sounds depressing.)

Katherine, I am RIGHT there with you! I marched a bunch, ran carrying a torch for the “Seneca Falls to Houston” convention in 1977 (link here), became a founding member of NOW in Charlotte when I was 18, all of that – and you are spot on. We wanted to be treated EQUALLY!!! And now, it is as if we have dropped into upside-down world. Astonishing.

Ugh. Well, the way things have been going, I would not be surprised. People think that money has been set aside. It has NOT. It is being spent left and right.

You nailed the argument perfectly. I also thought we wanted “equal” treatment not special treatment. I thought we wanted to stand on our own two feet. I thought we were strong. The Dems are taking that away from us and would have us be in constant need of support and special treatment. Screw that and them. I just want a equal chance. I’m good enough, we all are, to take it from there. If Clinton isn’t, then she isn’t woman enough for the job!

Exactly. I just do not understand how women like Gloria Steinem, put Obama on the face of “Ms. Magazine” as what the “new feminist looks like.” And that would be what, exactly?”Life of Julia”? A woman is supposed to be dependent on the gov’t from the get-go??? Really? That’s the life we are supposed to aspire to now?? WTH?? It flies in the face of EVERYTHING for which we worked. And it is NOT what feminists look like, or for what feminists stand. Not. Even. Close.

And then there is Eve Ensler, who chose Obama from the GET-go even though he had NOTHING to suggest that he would do well by women except paying women on his staff less than men. Compared to Clinton, who had made women and children the focus of her work for decades. Oh, she worked hard to justify it, along with the Democrat-fueled misogyny to destroy another woman who had worked hard from the ground up, did great things for the city where she was mayor, building an infrastructure that made her city successful; worked in a field with old boys, quitting a 6 figure income because of her ethics (which is why the Dems filed all the frivolous lawsuits over “ethics violations” – it was the way to destroy her credibility. NONE of the charges were true, and all were dismissed, but not before costing her over half a million dollars PERSONALLY in legal fees, and her ability to do her job.); and was THE most popular governor in the United States.

She SHOULD have been a poster Woman for Feminists – SHOULD have been. She had done it all – worked her way up to one of only 50 positions in the US, all while having a family, and a true partnership with her husband. But, no. The DNC and the media conspired to destroy her credibility and attacked her NOT for her politics, but for being a WOMAN. That, along with what they did to Hillary, was eye opening.

And now we are supposed to jump on board to protect poor little Hillary? Please.

Did you know the people that are the strongest are usually the most sensitive? Did you know the people who exhibit the most kindness are the first to get mistreated? Did you know the one who takes care of others all the time are usually the ones who need it the most? Did you know the 3 hardest things to say are I love you, I’m sorry, and Help me. Sometimes just because a person looks happy, you have to look past their smile and see how much pain they may be in. To all my friends who are going through some issues right now–Let’s start an intention avalanche. We all need positive intentions right now. If I don’t see your name, I’ll understand. May I ask my friends wherever you might be, to kindly copy and paste this status to give a moment of support to all those who have family problems, health struggles, job issues, worries of any kind and just need to know that someone cares. Do it for all of us, for nobody is immune. I hope to see this on the walls of all my friends just for moral support. I know some will!! I did it for a friend and you can too. You have to copy & paste this one, no share button, because kindness is a effort given from the ♥ not the press of a button.

Today at 1AM, my grandma, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, got up, got into my dad’s car and drove off. We contacted the police.

Before the police could find her, two college kids pulled into our driveway with my grandma. One was driving my dad’s car and the other was following in their car. They said they overheard her crying about being lost at an empty gas station 10 miles away.

My grandma couldn’t remember our address, but gave the kids her first and last name. They looked her up online, found our address, and drove her home.

When I read this I confess tears came to my eyes. Sometimes we are so concerned with the bad in the world that we forget the good. I try, at least on Sunday morning, to remember. Stories like this make it easier.

And since it is Sunday, how abt some music? We were listening to a Glee cd on the way up to Charleston last night, and it had a few songs by Kristen Chenoweth on it. Wow, what a tremendous talent she is. The following isn’t from the cd, but from the fantastic musical, “Wicked”: